


Forged With Gold

by blockgirlz



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, We Die Like Men, as well as other people probably, dont have anything planned but, enemies to lovers !1!1, irregular updates probably lets go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:02:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27790447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blockgirlz/pseuds/blockgirlz
Summary: "My kingdom means more to me than you ever will."Two princes from a split book, torn words telling stories of a faraway childhood friendship and emotions that are hidden behind gold crowns and velvet thrones.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter One: Prologue (All Is Fair)

**Author's Note:**

> dreamnap ?!?! princes au ?!?!
> 
> of course, i am willing to take this down if so requested by the people involved :]
> 
> enjoy

_ It’s a warm Summer’s afternoon when Sapnap squeals, trips, and cuts his knee. _

_ He groaned, muttering a curse his father would likely scold him for. Dream, his face young and just barely seven years old, rushed to be by his best friend’s side, his dark gray pants turning a muddled color as he slid in the dry dirt. Some caught in his throat as he bombarded Sapnap with concerned questions, while the rest of the dirt cloud floated away with the breeze, Earth reuniting with sky. _

_ Sapnap giggled, pushing Dream away and smiling when he landed backwards with an ‘oof’. “‘M fine, Dream,” He exaggerated his words, drawn out like the tree roots under his feet as he stood up above his friend. The tip of his tongue flicked his top gums, where his front teeth were just barely a week ago. “Barely hurts at all.” _

_ Dream eyed the rough scrape on his knee where it showed through the new hole in his trousers. Three drops of blood streamed down his leg, and Dream didn’t leave his eyebrows to unfurrow. “You sure?” He fidgeted with a loose piece of moss that grew from the tree root for a moment, tossing it aside a few seconds later. It landed in a sunlit patch of soft grass, warm with the light that broke through the thin forest canopy. Mites floated about lazily in the sunbeam, suspended with the familiar scent of pinewood that radiated from the forest floor and all around them. They weren’t far from Sapnap’s town- Dream could hear the verbal clutter from their distance. _

_ Sapnap laughed again, reaching a hand out to pull his friend up. “Promise,” He repeated.  _ _ “Dummy.” _

_ With not more than a second’s time, he broke into his run towards his town, his kingdom. (Not that six-year-old Sapnap ever thought much about anything being  _ his _. He had never considered that these moments had to be his, for one day, he would run through the forest with Dream for the last time.) _

_ All things change, like Mother Nature and her beloved seasons. Sapnap jumped over the next tree root that was in his path. _

_ Dream looked back, further into the forest. Towards the horizon, it was just dark, and green. Faintly, he could hear a waterfall. He turned back around and ran after Sapnap. _


	2. Chapter Two: Do You Believe in Fate?

It’s a perfect Winter’s night when Dream flips the hood of his cape up, looks over his shoulder, and slips out a back door of the castle.

  
He knew it was risky, but the reasonable side of his brain couldn’t make it to the forefront before he picked up the pace, leather boots kicking up pebbles and dirt as he slipped out a secret exit of the palace gates. He rounded the corner and ducked behind a nearby stand, one that would sell fruit and handmade goods in their best seasons, just as a gate guard turned his direction. Dream hadn’t seen fruit being sold at this stand for four summers.

With baited breath, he waited until the guard looked away. In one fell swoop, all of his dreads and all of his adrenaline melted together, he stood and weaved around a nearby building. Once he was out of sight, his tight chest released a breathy giggle, forged with gold and gems like the nicest of his crowns. He exclaimed into the night, laugh and soul bouncing down the streets of his land, rolling down the sidewalks and soaring across the globe. He smiled, and took off down the empty road.

_ It was his birthday _ .

Prince Dream, newly eighteen years old. He pumped his legs a little faster and smiled to himself.

He tried not to think of the barren street and set his mind on going wherever his boots took him. One day a year, he let himself wander outside the castle. He always felt as if he was being pulled to this place, like his spirit was a magnet and the  _ world _ was calling his name. What he wouldn’t give for a day’s break, like he was… a kid, again. To have a friend and to be free.

At the corner of two streets, illuminated through the darkness, a pub was open. Dream slowed to a walk, jingling the pocket of his cloak to ensure he’d brought along currency.

A bell above the door jingled as he pushed it open. It was warmer in the building- stuffier, if anything- but he loved it. He took in the yellow torchlight, spread across the walls like butter on bread. One patron, an old man who, Dream presumed with a frown, had nowhere else to sleep, lay with his head in his arms and a half-empty glass of ale and a piece of stale bread on his table. The second customer was a man more near Dream’s age, he guessed, with pretty brown hair a curtain as he dug his face into a book.

Dream approached the bar and smiled breathlessly. “May I just have water?”

The barkeep eyed the new customer tiredly, but it wasn’t long until Dream saw the familiar flash of recognition- and fear, even. The man euthanized any trace of a negative expression, ducking his head immediately. “Of course, your highness.”

Dream nodded thankfully, trying to push down the expected waves of disappointment, of failure. Who was he, with subjects scared of him? He swallowed, turning in his seat to scan the building. The intricate wood detailing and fur carpets felt more homely to him than the cold stone bricks ever would.

In the seconds that Dream noted scents of pinewood and clove, the man at the back of the bar sparked his head up. As Dream appreciated a particularly lovely painting on the wall opposite him, the man slowly shut his book. He held it to his chest and tried to convince himself he was seeing the truth.

_ “Dream?” _

It was hard to say for sure, but Dream thought that, maybe, everything stilled for one, solitary moment.  _ Sapnap _ , bathed in rich notes from both the candlelight and the pretty rings adorning his fingers, was burning a trail of fire, laced with gold and all things painfully beautiful, with each footstep. Sapnap, grabbing Dream’s shoulder and pulling him into the tightest, and only, hug he’d gotten in awhile, let that heat seep into Dream’s skin until he was illuminated from the inside. He could feel it in his chest, on his cheeks, on his fingertips when he hugged Sapnap back in disbelief.

_ “My God.” _

Sapnap pulled back, his shining grin equally beautiful to the ornamental jewelry around his neck. He looked older, definitely, but the playful glints still remained in his eyes- shattered to dust by princely responsibilities but looking like a kaleidoscope in its wake. Dream let his hand find a home somewhere on the corner of Sapnap’s ear and jawline, scared that too hard a touch and he would turn to gold.

“Dream, it’s- it’s been… Hi, Dream.” He whispered. He took the seat next to him and urged Dream to sit back down.

Dream cleared his throat and willed the blood to stop rushing to his brain. “Hi, Sapnap.”

Dream didn’t remember why he hadn’t seen Sapnap in so long, when he’d ran through the forest with his childhood best friend for the last time. He tried looking back into his memories, but it was dark. Gray stone walls, sleepless nights, stressful days and absent fathers clouded the innerworkings of his brain like a thick fog. In the distance, though, he could almost grasp at the warm memories of his childhood; distant like a faraway waterfall.

So, they talked. They talked until Dream was falling asleep in his chair and Sapnap was sure the sun would rise at any moment. Dream could tell Sap was getting restless, but also had an inkling neither of them really wanted the sun to wakeup just yet.

“So, I never asked. What brings you through?” Dream took a drink of the water he’d ordered hours ago and tried not to sound too tired.

“My father, he sent me on a trip here. I picked up some books, tried to see what the merchants are selling.” His face fell, as did his gaze to somewhere over the distance. “The shops over in Ustrina aren’t doing very well.”

Dream could sense the words unspoken, they crawled under his skin and kept him up at night. Words of citizens gone hungry and seasons of barren, frostbitten crops.

“Yeah.” Dream nodded, and the two princes shared an unsettled nod. Dream took another drink of water and tried to let it slide away, though the nagging at the back of his head still spoke nightmarish whispers. Lord knows Dream would die for his people, but his life meant nothing against dry soil and relentless nature gods.

Dream had only just noticed the new customers in the building, likely looking for a warm safe haven before starting their day. Some mothers sacrificed their own tattered layers for their shivering kids, others were fathers looking for either a beer or a tea. They always bowed their heads, but never made eye contact.

_ “Sorry, honey. I just don’t have the change for it. Another day, I promise.”  _ The conversation sparked Dream’s ear, as Sapnap rummaged for something in his rucksack. Dream turned to the sight of a young mom, just his age, wiping the dirty cheeks of a daughter impossibly past eight. Her mom stoked her tangled hair and tried to hide the cracking of her voice.

Dream didn’t think twice. “Pardon me,” he said quietly, holding out an open palm as the woman turned around. Three silver coins shined in his open palm.

“O-oh, thank you. So much, your highness.” With shock in her voice and eyes watering with appreciation, she bowed her head. Dream smiled, hoping she would find something to feed her daughter.

He hadn’t had more than a moment to face back towards Sapnap, who he could see from his peripheral that he was holding a leather backed book, when the bell rang again, and this time, Dream looked. He looked to see a member of his royal court, a most trusted guard.

“Oh, Bad,” He said pleasantly. What he really wasn’t expecting was to see Bad’s kind face turn to absolute stone at the sight of Sapnap, Prince of Ustrina.

“Prince Dream, please come with me back to the castle. Immediately.”

As Dream was ushered out the door by accompanying guards, he saw Bad approach Sapnap with an unsheathed sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know his birthday is not in the winter But i am the writer


End file.
